The
oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major sectors:
upstream,
midstream and
downstream. The downstream sector commonly refers to the
refining of petroleum crude oil and the
processing and purifying of raw natural gas, as well as the marketing and distribution of
products derived from
crude oil and
natural gas. The downstream sector touches consumers through products such as
gasoline or petrol,
kerosene,
jet fuel,
diesel oil,
heating oil,
fuel oils,
lubricants,
waxes,
asphalt,
natural gas, and
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as hundreds of
petrochemicals.